Champagne as we know it today—the original type of sparkling wine—was invented about 300 years ago, and the association of Champagne and other sparkling wines with celebrations has been strengthened over hundreds of years. For example, Napoleon's troops celebrated victories with sabrage, in which a bottle of Champagne is dramatically opened by striking the bottle with a saber or long knife. This strike not only removes the stopper, but also the top portion of the glass bottle's neck. Since the late 1800s, when a new boat or ship is officially launched to sea, a bottle of Champagne is smashed (i.e. dramatically opened) on the hull to “christen” the boat. Similarly, it is tradition for professional athletes (e.g. baseball players) to remove Champagne stoppers and shower their teammates with Champagne to celebrate important victories. Commercially, according to a recent study by The Nielsen Company™, there is a strong association of sales volume with official holidays (e.g. Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day). In brief, sparkling wines have a long, rich and storied connection with celebrations and events (e.g. holidays, parties, personal milestones and victories) in the minds of customers, and stopper removal from the pressurized bottle is central to the excitement and celebration.
Although global sales of non-Champagne sparkling wines is growing (4% compound annual growth rate from 2003-2007), the industry sees a potential opportunity for further growth. While Champagne manufacturers typically enjoy strong brand identities and can command high prices per bottle, the non-Champagne sparkling wine market is relatively commoditized and driven by price. Non-Champagne sparkling wines only account for 45% of total market revenues even though almost 90% of all sparkling wine bottles that are sold are non-Champagne sparkling wines. Therefore, non-Champagne sparkling wine companies see long term potential in brand or product differentiation. Marketing, such as packaging innovation, was emphasized as a differentiation strategy in a September 2008 industry report (just-drinks/IWSR report, Global market review of sparkling wine—forecasts to 2012). According to a summary of the report: “ . . . some marketers argue that the absence of innovation in packaging is one of the reasons for the relative dearth of strong non-Champagne sparkling wine brands, and that the time is right to break that mould and invest in new formats.”
From a customer's perspective, because the ritual of drinking champagne is so tightly associated with celebrations and parties, it is common to buy sparkling wine for events even though the host and guests are not aficionados. There may be some interest while the stopper is removed from the sparkling wine bottle if the person opening the bottle seems inexperienced, then glasses are passed around and the party or event resumes. Therefore, there is a need for manufactures to develop an identity for their sparkling wines, and an opportunity may exist if the entertainment or celebratory spirit of an event were enhanced by packaging improvements. In particular, there is a need for packaging improvements that enhance the novelty of stopper removal and, thus, de-commoditize the non-Champagne sparkling wines.
Surprisingly, there has been little effort to enhance the novelty value of stopper removal from sparkling wines, even though the ritual has existed for centuries. In fact, most ideas are directed towards the notion that stopper removal is difficult or dangerous instead of an opportunity for safe entertainment. Furthermore, widespread customer adoption may be enhanced by customer control regarding whether a novelty item appears or not, as there may be a small subset of circumstances or settings in which a novelty item is not appropriate (e.g. when bottles must be opened in the commercial kitchen of a restaurant instead of in front of guests). In brief, there is a need for a simple, inexpensive, robust, effective and safe design that is amenable to industry adoption.